About Me

Friday, November 30, 2012

As al-Qaeda supposedly struck from New York, to Iraq, to Bali, to Spain, to London, using weapons ranging from bombs to planes to shoes; the U.S. and its allies struck back, killing hundreds-of-thousands, and destroying entire countries, and governments all over the world tightened security and control in all aspects of our lives. We even managed to find terrorists in New Zealand.

But the more one looks into al-Qaeda, the less it starts to look like the “ultimate terrorist organization” and the more it starts to look like a Boogeyman used to justify military operations for control of resources “abroad” and the erosion of civil liberties at “home”.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN: On this episode of Breaking the Set, Abby Martin returns from her trip to Haiti and goes over her interview with former US President Jimmy Carter and their discussion about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the erosion of the rule of law in the US. Abby then speaks to William Blum, Historian and Author of 'America's Deadliest Export: Democracy' speaking about the history of US interventionism around the world and the brainwashing of America.

FORT MEADE, Md. – An Army private charged in the biggest security breach in U.S. history testified Thursday that he felt like a doomed, caged animal after he was arrested in Baghdad for allegedly sending classified information to the secret-spilling website WikiLeaks.

Luke Rudkowski got a chance to speak with Andy Bichlbaum 1/2 of the Yes Men at the press Conference for Hacktivist Jeremy Hammond. Andy is an artist, activist, film maker, and the co-creator of the infamous Yes Men. The December 2011 hack of Stratfor reveled that Andy was being followed and surveilled by Stratfor at the request of Dow Chemical for his work with the Yes Men to support the victims of the 1984 Bhopal Gas disaster.

Hostess Brands Inc. said Thursday that it's in talks with 110 potential buyers for its iconic brands, which also include CupCakes, Ding Dongs and Ho Hos. The suitors now include at least five national retailers such as supermarkets, a financial adviser for the company said in bankruptcy court. The process has been "so fast and furious" Hostess hasn't been able to make the calls seeking buyers it previously intended, said Joshua Scherer of Perella Weinberg Partners.

"Not only are these buyers serious, but they are expecting to spend substantial sums," he said.

The update on the sale of the company's brands comes as Hostess seeks approval in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York in White Plains, N.Y. to give its top executives bonuses totaling up to $1.8 million as part of its wind-down plans. The company says the incentive pay is needed to retain the 19 corporate officers and "high-level managers" during the liquidation process, which could take about a year."*

Cenk Uygur breaks down the news that executives from the now bankrupt Hostess are receiving multi-million dollar bonuses while workers for the most part will be out of a job. Do the executives deserve that much? What about entitlements for workers? Does this apply across the board in other corporate bankruptcy cases, and why?

"California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Wednesday released a report by the Government Accountability Office analyzing the feasibility of transferring the 166 detainees currently in custody at Guantanamo Bay to domestic prisons in the United States."This report demonstrates that if the political will exists, we could finally close Guantanamo without imperiling our national security," Feinstein said. The senator requested the report in 2008."*

Civil rights are back in focus after the election with Senator Dianne Feinstein and Rand Paul supporting trials by jury and opposing indefinite detention. It also turns out that Guantanamo can be closed now as well, Feinstein argues.

Documents obtained by accountability group Judicial Watch have confirmed that US-born Islamic cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi, said to be the former leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), was arrested and held in Yemen at the behest of the U.S. Embassy before being released again.

The documents also reveal that the terrorist chief, who previously dined with top brass at the Pentagon, was officially invited to the US embassy in Yemen on March 24, 2011, just six months before his supposed assassination by US drone strike.

The UN General Assembly has voted to upgrade Palestinians' diplomatic status to a "non-member observer state," thus implicitly recognizing a Palestinian state. This comes despite strong opposition from the US and Israel

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says all the necessary physical infrastructure for absolute totalitarianism through the internet is ready. He told RT that the question now is whether the turnkey process that already started will go all the way

Nile Bowie of NileBowie.blogspot.com joins us tonight to go over some news headlines from across the Middle East, including the UN General Assembly vote on Palestinian statehood, western double standards in the "Arab Spring" and the American-ization of Saudi Arabia. We also talk about the recent 9/11 conference in Kuala Lumpur and Nile's upcoming trip to China and North Korea.

The UN General Assembly has voted to upgrade Palestinians' diplomatic status to a "non-member observer state," thus implicitly recognizing a Palestinian state. The Palestinian bid has been upheld with 138 votes in favor, 9 against and 41 abstentions - FULL STORYhttp://on.rt.com/iiwg2o

The interview was anticipated. CNN presstitute host Erin Burnett was to have WikiLeaks Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange, author of the new book, Cypherpunks, come on her show. Another pundit, Brooke Baldwin, promoted it on CNN just after 3:30 pm EST and said, "You have quite the big interview scoop, so we'll talk about that in a minute," just before getting to a segment on Pfc. Bradley Manning.

Burnett set out to do a hit job on Assange. From the beginning, Assange tried to discuss what he found to be important and not trivial or plain disingenuous and ignorant. As the Mediaite clip posted shows, he got into how companies are working in countries to engage in widespread surveillance showing documents. Burnett reacted, "I'm curious though about this — A lot of people share this fear about being under surveillance, right? Some people might say you go way too far on it, but people do share your fear. But you are someone trying to champion and like I said benefiting by the Internet by putting out information governments don't want people to have."

"Some people might say" is Burnett saying what she thinks. She thinks Assange's fear of the surveillance state goes to far. She does not want to talk about this issue and, though Assange began the interview ready to talk on this topic, Burnett is prepared to steer this to Ecuador (but not before casting his agenda as something that is nefarious and shady).

An alleged inmate of 'Batman' massacre culprit James Holmes claims the shooter told him that he was "programmed" to carry out the massacre by an "evil" therapist.

The shocking story has gone virtually unnoticed after appearing in a blog post on the Denver Westword website last week.

After failing to interest the Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office in his account of what happened, 38-year-old Steven Unruh has now gone public. Unruh was booked into the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office Detention Facility just hours before the 'Batman' massacre unfolded and says that he was still in the booking area when Holmes was brought in.

Unruh then claims that he was able to communicate with Holmes from a nearby cell and that Holmes appeared to show remorse for what had happened.

The most explosive element of what Unruh claims Holmes told him could -- if true -- shed an entirely different light on the circumstances behind the Aurora theater shooting.

"He says that Holmes told him "he felt like he was in a video game" during the shooting, that "he wasn't on his meds" and "nobody would help him." He says Holmes also mentioned NLP — presumably, neuro-linguistic programming, a much-scorned and outmoded approach to psychotherapy — and claimed to have been "programmed" to kill by an evil therapist."

Leading US strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski rejects Israeli pressure to form American national security policy by beating the drum for war on Iran. Washington would not blindly follow Tel-Aviv if Israel chooses to unilaterally strike Iran, he said. READ MORE:http://on.rt.com/enjsoiA video about war criminal Zbigniew Brzezinski:The Bad Guys (Zbigniew Brzezinski) Episode 102 (VIDEO)

Professor Graeme MacQueen has been an active scholar and peace activist for three decades, helping to found the McMaster's Centre for Peace Studies in 1989. Now, as an editor of the Journal of 9/11 Studies and member of the Toronto Hearings committee and the 9/11 Consensus panel, MacQueen is looking for ways to go beyond the collection of 9/11 evidence into prosecution for the crimes of 9/11. Find out more in this week's GRTV Feature Interview with our guest, Graeme MacQueen.

"A new YouTube video showing a woman in a red thong palpating what she says is her botched butt implant has gone viral.

"This is my implant flipping backwards," the woman, whose face isn't pictured, says in the 20-second video as she manipulates what does look like an oddly mobile implant. "I don't think an implant is supposed to do that."

The source of the YouTube video, which has racked up tons of Facebook likes, is unclear, as multiple accounts have uploaded it, although it's featured on a post on WorldStarHipHop.com along with the following unverified quote:

"This is the dangers of butt implants.. Ladies do not ever do silicone butt injections they are toxic to your body. Butt implants are not any better, too many risk, infection, displacement of the implant and they feel like rocks not to mention look very unnatural. Love the skin your in [sic] Here is what happens when implants go bad.. This is my personal experience I almost died from this surgery and am having them removed this Thursday."*

Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian discuss this plastic surgery nightmare that has gone viral. Is plastic surgery overly dangerous, or are self-esteem issues?

In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert welcome Mark Carney to the City of London freak show at which Max predicts that Carney will play the bearded hermaphrodite who devalues the pound by 25 percent and yet only manages to introduce an ice age of economic growth. Max and Stacy also compare the rebels robbing the central bank in Goma to the Goldman Sachs takeover of central banks in Europe. In the second half, Max Keiser talks to professor and author, Andrew Ross, about the 'angel capitalists' striking debt across America and about the historic Black Friday strike at Walmart.

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

"Highly-paid CEO's are in town to tell America how to avoid the 'fiscal cliff.'

"The top priority of the 'Fix the Debt CEO's' is to cut the essential commitments of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. No skin off their noses. Sorry, you 50 million Americans who are in poverty. Too bad, you millions of children, elderly and poor who rely on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Unemployed? You are just out of luck if you lose unemployment benefits.

"These 71 CEOs who come to Washington to preach fiscal austerity have average retirement assets of $9.1 million. That's about a $65,000 pension check each month for the rest of their lives. In contrast, the average monthly Social Security check for retired workers is $1,237.

"Of all these debt cutting CEO's, only two have sufficient assets in their companies' pension funds to meet their obligations to their own workers. The rest who pay any pension at all have underfunded their workers' pension funds by $103 billion.

"Those who have already shoved their own retiring workers off the fiscal cliff want to do it to the rest of the middle class and poor. NO WAY."

WORDS: In Egypt the deadline nears on constitution as TSA claims it is above Congressional oversightExplosions in Damascus kill at least 34 while a Shotgun shell found on an airline seat delays the flight US bars BP from new federal contracts while Cyber Monday shoppers spend I.4 billionEurope approves bailout of four Spanish banks as Student loan debt nears one trillionNorth Carolina college reverses Christmas tree banAttempt to kill journalist claimed by the TalibanCourts push to limit media criticism in Pakistanas a Kabul bank embezzled 900 million dollars out of AfghanistanBank of America's CEO in court says he cant remember anything, isn't this what they always sayHugo Chavez's health remains a mystery as no one was shot, stabbed, slashed or murdered in New York City on MondayWidespread bacteria and drugs found in pork samples while Researchers warn mixing grapefruit with drugs can killThe White House says Obama is not concerned whether Susan Rice misled the American People, man are these turds for realTobacco companies ordered to admit they lied over smoking danger, thats a no brainer to me,Mitt Romney is to have lunch with Obama on Thurday while Glenn Beck dunks an Obama figurine in a jar of peeAnd the madness just makes me wanna scream and shout but thats all the time for world news in 60 seconds Im changedachannel and Im out

The remains of Yasser Arafat have been exhumed as experts try to ascertain whether the Palestinian leader was poisoned. The probe comes less than a week after the ceasefire between Gaza and Israel and precedes a UN vote on Palestine's nation status.Traces of a radioactive substance were found of Arafat's effects in July, adding impetus to the theory he was murdered.

The procedure began at 05:00 GMT and was carried out in the presence of French, Russian and Swiss experts to verify its validity. Scientists took samples of Arafat's bones, which they will take back to their respective countries. There they will be analyzed for traces of radioactive material and other lethal substances.

Experts have said a full investigation into the causes of Arafat's death could take several months.

Journalists were prohibited from attending the exhumation "because [of the] sanctity of the symbol and the sanctity of this event," a former Palestinian intelligence chief told AFP.

A probe was launched back in August following a documentary by Qatar-backed channel Al Jazeera. The documentary claimed that traces of plutonium-210 were discovered on items belonging to the iconic figure.

Scientists from the Swiss Institute of Radiation Physics at Lausanne University found "significant traces" that exceeded normal levels by 10 times in some samples. However, investigators conceded that Arafat's symptoms according to his medical records were not consistent with radioactive poisoning.

Arafat, who was made the first president of the Palestinian Authority in 1996, became ill in October 2004. His condition worsened so severely over the subsequent two weeks that he was transferred to a French military hospital in Paris, where he died in the November.

The former leader's medical records describe the cause of his death as a stroke brought on by a blood disorder of unknown origin, but rumors are rife in Palestine that Arafat was poisoned by Israel. The Israeli government has repeatedly denied these accusations.

Qatar 'meddling in region'

One of the possible answers to why Al Jazeera has been so actively covering the issue is Qatar's interest in what is happening in the region, independent journalist James Corbett told RT. The emir of Qatar visited Palestine shortly before the recent conflict, offering money and arms, Corbett said.

RT's Paula Slier pointed out that there's "a lot of vested interest" in terms of who and what was behind the death of Yasser Arafat. She reminded that Al Jazeera, who is "almost obsessed with stories about Israeli assassinations," is owned by the Qatar government. "What we've witnessed for some time is that Qatar is... desperate to see some kind of change within the Palestinian leadership. For some time Qatar has also wanted to see the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas step down and to see more radical elements come to power not only in Gaza, but also in the West Bank."

Even if the investigation proves Arafat was poisoned, it's highly unlikely it will result in any real political fallout, James Corbett argued.

"The vast majority of Palestinians have always assumed that Israel assassinated Arafat. If this goes on to confirm that, it kind of throws in the face of the Palestinians their helplessness in a situation like this. And this was underscored actually just earlier this month when Israel came out and for the first time military censors allowed the information about the killing of Fatah's co-founder, Khalil al-Wazir," Corbett said.

Earlier this month Israel admitted the assassination of Khalil al-Wazir in 1988, after some 25 years of secrecy over the killing.

"So it's now openly on record admitted that the co-founder of Fatah was killed by the Israelis, but again nothing has resulted politically, and it's unclear whether or not Palestine will have any ability to bring any sort of proceedings against Israel if it is found that Arafat was poisoned," Corbett told RT.

Watch the full Keiser Report E373 on Thursday!In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert welcome Mark Carney to the City of London freak show at which Max predicts that Carney will play the bearded hermaphrodite who devalues the pound by 25 percent and yet only manages to introduce an ice age of economic growth. Max and Stacy also compare the rebels robbing the central bank in Goma to the Goldman Sachs takeover of central banks in Europe. In the second half, Max Keiser talks to professor and author, Andrew Ross, about the 'angel capitalists' striking debt across America and about the historic Black Friday strike at Walmart.

Pre-trial hearings have begun in the case of U.S. army private Bradley Manning accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, with the defence claiming he was the subject of abuse while in detention. Chase Madar, a lawyer and author of a book on Manning, says not all the military are against the alleged whistleblower.

From the recent Israeli operation in Gaza to a bid for non-member state status at the UN to the specter of Yasser Arafat being dug up from his grave, there is no shortage of news from Palestine right now. Tonight on the program James goes over these stories and shares some of his recent reports on Palestine including an interview with former Palestinian detainee Jawwad Musleh.

Maybe the United Nations should take down the 2012 Mayan calendar that hangs in their transnational talking shop. The top UN global warming climate change negotiator Christina Figueres, who is in charge of arm-twisting industrialized countries to fight greenhouse gas emissions, framed her real agenda in plain language that everybody can easily understand.

These are her actual words, as reported by the Washington Examiner: Christiana Figueres, who leads the United Nations negotiations to cut greenhouse gas emissions, described the climate change she seeks as a world-encompassing "revolution" engineered by "centralized" governments. "We are inspiring government, private sector, and civil society to [make] the biggest transformation that they have ever undertaken," Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said in an interview published by The Guardian last week.

Experts at the prestigious University of Cambridge will conduct research into the "extinction-level risks" posed to humanity by artificially intelligent robots.

The Cambridge Project for Existential Risk is dedicated to "ensuring that our own species has a long-term future" by studying the risks posed by AI, nanotechnology and biotechnology.

"The scientists said that to dismiss concerns of a potential robot uprising would be "dangerous," reports the BBC.

The project was co-founded by Huw Price, Bertrand Russell Professor of Philosophy at Cambridge, Martin Rees,Emeritus Professor of Cosmology & Astrophysics at Cambridge, and Jaan Tallinn, the co-founder of Skype.

It also counts amongst its advisers Max Tegmark, Professor of Physics, MIT and George M Church, Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School.

An article written by Tallinn and Price warns that artificially intelligent computers or robots could take over "the speed and direction of technological progress itself," and shape the environment of planet earth to their own ends while displaying about as much concern for humanity as we do for a bug on the windscreen.

Far from being resigned to works as science fiction such as in the Terminator films, the threat posed by a potential future "rise of the robots" has never been closer to reality.

The study echoes the predictions of respected author, inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil, renowned for his deadly accurate technological forecasts.

Nearly 200 people marched in Santiago on Tuesday protesting a new fisheries law in Chile, which critics say will concentrate too much of the country's dwindling fishing stocks in the hands of the big fishing companies. Police dispersed the unauthorised demonstration of students and fishermen with motorbikes and fired a water cannon.

British ex-Defense Minister, Lord Gilbert, has threatened militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan with a neutron bomb. The UK could create "cordons sanitaire along various borders where people are causing trouble", he said. READ MORE:http://on.rt.com/ruwqiu

Across Britain growing numbers of people are acting in solidarity with PalestiniansBritish protestors are also targetting security company G4S which works for Israel and runs prisons in the occupied territories and security checkpoints around the Gaza prison Wall.G4S:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G4S

Egyptian police fired tear gas at protesters amassed in Tahrir Square. But still the demonstrations against what is being seen as a dictator-like power grab by the President show no sign of ending. Over a hundred thousand people are calling on Mohammed Morsi to leave after he gave himself authority beyond reach of the courts. STORY+PHOTOS:http://on.rt.com/jn0iv2

"Another star of the CBS sitcom "Two and a Half Men" has gone rogue — but in a decidedly different direction than notorious carouser Charlie Sheen.

Actor Angus T. Jones — the "half" in the sitcom's title — says in a new online testimony that he's become a Seventh-day Adventist and loathes the "filth" produced by his raunchy show.

"You cannot be a true God-fearing person and be on a television show like that," says Jones, 19, in a video posted online by Forerunner Chronicles. "I know I can't. I'm not OK with what I'm learning, what the Bible says, and being on that television show."

"Please stop watching it," says Jones, who reportedly earns $350,000 per episode and has starred in the show since he was 10. "Please stop filling your head with filth."

The remains of Yasser Arafat have been exhumed as experts try to ascertain whether the Palestinian leader was poisoned. The probe comes less than a week after the ceasefire between Gaza and Israel and precedes a UN vote on Palestine's nation status.

Traces of a radioactive substance were found of Arafat's effects in July, adding impetus to the theory he was murdered.

Republican senators who met with U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice on Tuesday said they would not support any nomination of her to a higher post until questions about the administration's response to the attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, were answered.

Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte met behind closed doors with Rice for about an hour and said they were still troubled by her responses to their questions about her early comments following the September 11, 2012, attack that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans.

Rice is considered a possible contender for secretary of state in President Barack Obama's second term, a position that would require Senate confirmation.

"The poor and the middle class? They're entitled to unemployment, underemployment, foreclosures, and cuts in both Social Security and Medicare.

"Poor and middle-class Americans know all about the fiscal cliff. They've been getting pushed off it for years with an unfair tax system, unconscionable trade deals and the Fed's monetary policies.

"Nearly 50 million people are in poverty in America, twelve million unemployed and millions more underemployed. On January 2, millions stand to lose unemployment benefits. Fourteen million American's mortgages are greater than the value of their homes. On the horizon loom massive cuts to essential services.

In this episode, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the water and fire signalling the arrival of the paper apocalypse as ever more analysts warn of the debt and credit bubble as governments put their faith in share traders who, a new study shows, are more manipulative than psychopaths. In the second half, Max Keiser talks to professor and economist, Steve Keen, about the fiscal cliff and private sector deleveraging. They also discuss the possibility of a currency collapse in Japan.

In the video, captured by Jordan Rojas, a friend of 17-year-old Andrew Rodriguez, we see an officer identified as "Officer Arnold" by the Dallas Observer (later identified by police as Officer Disraeli Arnold, a four and a half year veteran of the Hurst Police Department) sprinting towards Rodriguez and then slamming him in the back of the head with a flying knee.After the brutal strike, Arnold screams, "Move, move, move and die! Move and fuckin’ die!""You wanna die here? Fuckin’ move again! Fuckin’ move again!" Arnold screamed.Arnold then turns to the young man filming the incident and says, "Get up, get over here!"Then, nonsensically, Arnold screams, "Stay down and shut the fuck up. Sit down and shut the fuck up! Don’t say nothing else!"Moments later he screams at Rodrigquez, "Yeah faggot!"MORE:http://www.activistpost.com/2012/11/insane-cop-delivers-flying-knee-to-back.html

U.S. support of Israel's brutal crimes hurts American security because it angers many people & some are motivated to resort to terrorism. U.S. support of Israel puts Americans at risk & it's immoral & unjust. If Americans knew what Israel was actually doing they would not support it in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"The corporate CEOs who have made a high-profile foray into deficit negotiations have themselves been substantially responsible for the size of the deficit they now want closed.

The companies represented by executives working with the Campaign To Fix The Debt have received trillions in federal war contracts, subsidies and bailouts, as well as specialized tax breaks and loopholes that virtually eliminate the companies' tax bills.

The CEOs are part of a campaign run by the Peter Peterson-backed Center for a Responsible Federal Budget, which plans to spend at least $30 million pushing for a deficit reduction deal in the lame-duck session and beyond.

During the past few days, CEOs belonging to what the campaign calls its CEO Fiscal Leadership Council -- most visibly, Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein and Honeywell's David Cote -- have barnstormed the media, making the case that the only way to cut the deficit is to severely scale back social safety-net programs -- Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security -- which would disproportionately impact the poor and the elderly."*

Who actually runs the GOP, who is not paying taxes, and who is asking for big breaks and bailouts? In short, Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein, Honeywell's David Cote, and other very wealthy corporatists. Cenk Uygur explains the corporate ideologies, priorities, and demands.